Let's put this into perspective. Jamie Moyer started playing professional baseball in 1984. He made his major league debut two years later. The crafty left-hander hadn't been on the disabled list since 2000 and had never --- that's right --- never had surgery. Then the latter part of the 2009 season and postseason rolled around. It wasn't kind to the Souderton High graduate. Moyer had season-ending surgery on his groin in October, was hospitalized twice afterward for complications and infections and then needed knee surgery about three and a half weeks ago. But when I talked to him on Wednesday, he was as upbeat as ever and has no doubts about this season.

It certainly hasn't been the easiest of roads for Kyle Kendrick. The 29-year-old broke into the majors for the first time in 2007 but it wasn't until last year that he spent the entire season in the starting rotation with the Phillies. Even then, what started as a solid season was eventually ended prematurely by tendinitis in his shoulder. A 2.41 ERA at the end of April was still a respectable 3.46 by June 25. However, that's where the trouble began. After that, Kendrick would only make it to the seventh inning once - July 11. The righty finished the season Sept.

The numbers say Roy Halladay struggled throughout his four-inning outing with the Phillies' Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs at the Carpenter Complex Saturday. Halladay isn't concerned. One reason, he said, is because he felt fine physically after his 81-pitch effort before a large crowd of well-wishers and Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee on Richie Ashburn Field at the Carpenter Complex. For another, it's part of the annual spring battle he wages to get a grip - literally - on his cutter.

Just like when he was a player, Roy Halladay was one of the first to take the field Thursday morning. Instead of toeing the rubber like he had for the last 16 seasons, Halladay stood off to the side of the mound with pitching coach Bob McClure, among other coaches, watching Jonathan Pettibone move through his delivery. Players didn't have to report until 9 a.m. Thursday, but the group was out on the field before 8 a.m. working on the injured right-hander's lower-body mechanics.

Roy Halladay had another impressive outing, Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Thursday. There was a moment of silence before the game for former Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts, who died Thursday morning. The Hall of Famer's No. 36 jersey was hung in the Phillies' dugout and it will remain there the rest of the season. Halladay (6-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings. He tied a season-high with nine strikeouts, and even talked manager Charlie Manuel into letting him get one more out after allowing a run in the seventh.

I'll be hopping on the radio twice today to talk Phillies, Jonathan Papelbon and Roy Halladay. Around 5:15 p.m. or 5:30 p.m., I will be on 97.5 The Fanatic. And then at 6 p.m., I'm going on MLB Radio Network. Hope you're able to listen!

Everyone in baseball was shocked this past December when news broke that Roy Halladay would be retiring from the game he's dominated for so long. But it didn't take long for the announcement to come that he would not be leaving the game for good. By January, it was official. Halladay would be a guest instructor with the Phillies once camp started. It wasn't something that was an immediate decision for Halladay, who said he first spoke with Ruben Amaro Jr. about being an instructor at baseball's winter meetings.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner and former Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay announced his retirement from baseball on Monday after signing a ceremonial one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, his first big league team. The former Blue Jays ace, one of only five MLB pitchers to win the Cy Young Award as the season's top pitcher in both the American League and National League, began his 16-year career with Toronto and compiled a 203-105 record. The eight-time All-Star won the Cy Young with Toronto in 2003 and then with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 to join Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens as a winner in both leagues.

The Sports Xchange Weighing fiscal priorities over sentimentality, the Philadelphia Phillies declined to make qualifying offers Monday to two free agent veterans, right-hander Roy Halladay and catcher Carlos Ruiz. The Phillies decided against giving one-year, $14.1 million tenders to the duo, a decision that will cost the team draft-pick compensation should either player or both sign elsewhere. The club also will decline the $20 million option on Halladay's contract. Halladay, 36, missed most of the 2013 season due to shoulder surgery, and he was shut down again in September due to a dead arm. He finished 4-5 with a 6.82 ERA in 13 starts, his second consecutive disappointing season.

PHILADELPHIA - Every chair had a body sitting in it. Other people were standing along the edges of the aisles. When those spaces got jammed, the rest of the audience squeezed in and found a place wherever it could. Among the crowd were countless national baseball insiders, magazine writers, beat reporters, television broadcasters, camera men, radio personalities, front office staffers … you get the gist. It was quite the event. Everyone wanted to be there. It was the result of having four of baseball's best pitchers - Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt, in one team's rotation - all sitting in the same room in public for the first time.

PHILADELPHIA - Roy Halladay has walked off the mound at Citizens Bank Park to deafening cheers and standing ovations. He's been pummeled by Carlos Ruiz in celebration of his no-hitter in the National League Division Series in 2010. And he's earned the right to tip his cap to the appreciative fans. None of those things accompanied him when he left the game after the top of the sixth inning Tuesday, despite the fact that it may have been the last time he'll have ever pitched at Citizens Bank Park in Phillies pinstripes.

PHILADELPHIA - For as entertaining as Phillies hitters were Thursday night, it was equally hard to watch Roy Halladay. Again. On the same night the offense batted around in the first inning and finished the night by scoring 10 runs on 14 hits, the two-time Cy Young award winner walked five, including four in a row in the fifth inning, in the Phillies' 10-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. "For the most part we were right where we wanted to be and then that fifth inning, my lower half kind of disappeared from me," Halladay said.

PHILADELPHIA - For as entertaining as Phillies hitters were Thursday night, it was equally hard to watch Roy Halladay. Again. On the same night the offense batted around in the first inning and finished the night by scoring 10 runs on 14 hits, the two-time Cy Young award winner walked five, including four in a row in the fifth inning, in the Phillies' 9-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. It was just the 11th time in Halladay's lengthy career that he has walked five in a game, but it has now happened in back-to-back starts.

PHILADELPHIA — Pitching coach Rich Dubee doesn't want you to worry about Roy Halladay. He isn't. "Doc's very honest about where he is," Dubee said. "Listen, you're looking at a guy that went to Single-A ball to make his way back to the big leagues. His feelings don't get hurt. He's having more fun now because he's healthy and can go out and throw a baseball without pain than probably when he was pitching good. This is pain-free. These are great steps for him. " 13-RoyHalladay-0314So great that the team, at the end of this year, will get a good idea of what he will be in 2014?